Shoe construction



19,1943. 5. s. PAYNE 2,332,252

' SHOE CONSTRUCTION v Filed April 28', 1941 T 1' I T135.

IIIIII V INV TOR fo/vA Par/vs.

ATTORNEY I BY W, 1- Q/ yu Patented Oct. 19, 194 1,.

vsuchconsulted"rron I 7 time s. Payne, Newydrk, 1; Application Aprib 2s, 194I ,.Seriall-No. secrets! Q aclaims. (cred-asp This invention relates shoeconstruction and more. particularly to a c'ombinationrshoet and seek adapted to beachwear or :theilikee a Beach shoes are usually-of such anature-as to be unsuitablefor swimming or, when so: com structed. as to besuita-ble: for swimming; usually aliord insufiicientprotection to'andi support of" the foot; A. beza'ch shoe, particularly for: ladies wear;;should not only.- be attractive in appearance and structurally amenable to suitable-lieco*- ration, butshould' also provide support and protection to the foot comparable'ta that afiorded' by a street shoe.

Most-women are accustomed to wearing high heeled shoes, extended wear of which causes a degree of contraction of the Achilles tendon sufficient at least to result in discomfort when the foot is not supported by a high heel. Further, more, extended wear of such shoes results in some structural change of the arch of thefoot, which becomes accustomed to the type of support afforded by the high heeled shoe, and which accordingly tires when not sosupported. Most beach shoes which provide the foot support to which womens feet are accustomedare accordingly but little difierentfrom street shoes, except in the material of which they are made, and the decoration. Such shoes are clearly ill suited to swimming and strolling on a beach, and have the further disadvantages of substantial expense and inability to wear well under the conditions to which they are subjected in normal use.

Accordingly it is among the objects of my invention to provide a shoe for beach wear or the like which is inexpensive, yetattractive in appearance, durable under conditions of its use, and which provides propersup-port to and ,protection of the foot.

The invention accordingly consists in the fea tures of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts as will be exemplified in the structure to be hereinafter described, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the drawing, which illustrates one form of my invention,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my shoe;

Figure 2 is a perspective viewof the sock which forms a part of my shoe; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation of my shoe.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the various views of the drawing. 7

In Figure l, I have shown a womans foot wearingimy'shoe, the shoe,'in general, compris ing: anouter shoe"generallyin'dicated at l8- and an inner shoe or'so'ckgenerally indicated at 25L I Shoe M includes a heel I'-|'- which preferably apprcxi-mates in height the heel of a conventional high heeled street shoe. As is more clearly shown in" Figure 3,' "'hee'l- H has securedthereto a sole l2 having a rear portion 12a conforming tothe shape of" the back of the heel, and a forward portion 125 which extends from heel ll underthe arch F3 oftlie-foot- Sole l2; and particul'ai'l'y portion l'zbtthereof, is preferably-sufii-' ciently rigid to form an arch support for the foot, and if desired the sole may be lined" with an inner sole l4 formed from some material such as sponge rubber. Inner sole [4, accordingly, provides a cushioned support for the heel and arch, and also acts in an anti-friction capacity in preventing the foot from sliding forwardly out by an elastic strip 11.

of the heel of the shoe.

Referring back to Figure 1, shoe Ill is provided with sides l5 and lfi'which are secured to heel H in any suitable manner, and which preferably are fabricated from a water-proof or water resistant material. Sides I5 and I6 oftheshoe may be held together in any suitable manner as Another elastic strip l8 may also be attached to sldes l5 and I6 to prevent shoe I 0 from dropping off the foot as the wearer walks along.

The manner of connecting sides l5 and I6 to heel ll may be one which is conventional in shoes of this type, and the material from which heel II is formed may be any suitable-material, such as cork, rubber, a plastic, or other material which is sufficiently rigid to provide support, but which is light in weight so as not to act as an anchor to the wearers foot. It accordingly will now appear that shoe l0 structurally provides substantially, all of the support to which a womans foot is accustomed, in that its heel H is of sufiicient height not to strain the Achilles tendon, and sole I3 is of suflicient rigidity and length as to provide ample support to the arch. It might be noted thatinner sole l4 preferably extends ashort distance beyond sole l2 so as to protect the arch of the foot against the end of sole portion 12b, accordingly preventing this portion of the sole from cutting into or chafing the foot. Y

Further toprotect and support the foot, I provide sock 25 (Figure 2) which is preferably formed of some elastic water-proof material such as indicated at l9, and terminates adjacent the ankle 20. A loop or bight 2| is formed at the lower end of the sock so as to fit between the wearers first and second toes, thereby to properly position the sock and prevent it from riding up over the arch of the foot. To provide maximum freeness to the toes, the sock is cut away as at 22 and 23 so that the toes freely protrude therefrom. As is better shown in Figure 3, a pad 24 of soft sponge rubber or the like is secured in any suitable manner to sock 25 in such a position as to cushion the ball of the foot, and acoordingly protect this portion of the foot against sharp stones, pebbles, or the like. Thus it may be seen that when both shoe l and sock 25 are' on the foot, the foot is given substantially that measure of support and protection afiorded by a conventional high heeled shoe. By reason of the nature of the materials used in the shoe and V sock, both are well able to withstand the normal conditions of use of the shoe, the foot has ample freedom and is freely flexible so as to facilitate swimming, and the shoe and sock are so light as not to act as a drag on the foot.

Accordingly I have provided a shoe which attains the several objects of my invention in a thoroughly practical and efiicient manner.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention and as many changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted. as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

l. A shoe comprising, in combination, a heel of substantial height and formed from lightweight, water-proof material, a pair of sides connected to said heel and extending upwardly therefrom, a rigid sole secured to said heel and adapted to extend therefrom beneath the wearers instep and terminating at a point short of the ball of the wearers foot, a water resistant inner sole secured to said rigid sole and extending over the forward edge thereof, and means connected to said sides for holding the shoe on the foot.

2. A shoe comprising, in combination, a heel of substantial height, a rigid sole secured to said heel and extending forwardly therefrom and terminating at a point short of the ball of the wearers foot, cushioning means secured to the upper part of said sole, and means connected to the sides of. said shoe for holding the shoe on the wearers foot.

3. A heel-counter unit comprising, in combination, a heel of substantial height formed of water resistant material and extending from the back of the wearers foot beneath the wearers instep to a point adjacent the ball of the wearers foot, means secured to the rear portion of said heel for holding said heel from sliding forwardly on the wearers foot, means extending upwardly from each forward side portion of said heel and over the wearers arch for detachably securing said heel-counter unit on the wearers foot, and an inner sole on that portion of said heel about which the wearers foot is supported.

- EDNA s. PAYNE. 

